J-

Whatever you need on this just let me know and I'll make it work. Call me tmrw- mid morning works best.

RHB

202.333.1880

On Apr 28, 2015, at 8:28 AM, James Bulger <jbulger@thorntonai.com> wrote:

Hunter,

As you know I was in Beijing last week. I was there because the State Legislative Leaders Foundation (SLLF) was sending an advance team in preparation for a large program they will be putting on in October that will hopefully include over 50 legislative leaders from over 25 different US States as well as their provincial counterparts in China. Additionally, US and Chinese businesses will also be in attendance. 

Henry is spearheading this initiative with SLLF in China so I spent the last week with him. Henry is a big supporter of SLLF and he sees this initiative as being of a major diplomatic significance to both the US and China. He has spent a lot of the past year helping SLLF get an office set up in China which, considering how busy Henry is with all his other business, shows how important he views this SLLF initiative.

Henry and Steve Lakis (President of SLLF) asked me if I could help Steve set up a meeting with you when Steve is in DC next. Steve wanted to ask your advice on how to proceed on one aspect of setting up an SLLF office in China. 

Specifically, the US and Chinese government through their respective foreign ministries laid a broad framework that allowed for the creation of the US-China Governors Forum. The U.S.-China Governors Forum was set up by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. It serves as a platform to promote peer-to-peer exchanges between U.S. state governors and Chinese provincial party secretaries and governors on topics of mutual interest such as trade, investment, energy and the environment. A Chinese province or a U.S. state takes turns hosting the meeting with the first one convened in Salt Lake City, Utah and the second one in Tianjin and Beijing. The third one was scheduled to be held in California in November this year.

SLLF would like to set up a similar sort of arrangement but instead focus on exchange between the state-level legislative branch of each country rather than the executive branch. It is on this point specifically that Steve Lakis (President of the SLLF) was wondering if he could just meet at your DC office and discuss paths forward.

Just so you know the SLLF is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to professional development for current and future state legislative leaders. Their constituency includes Speakers of the House, Senate Presidents, Majority Leaders, Minority Leaders, and Pro Tempores. 

So is there a chance you could sit down with Steve and give him some advice on some of the issues that he and Henry are contending with? For your reference I've attached an internal memo that SLLF created on this matter.

Let's you and I have a quick phone call so I can explain further. What is a good time for me to give you a call?

Thanks,

Jimmy

--

James J. Bulger
Chairman
Thornton Group LLC
14 Beacon Street, Suite 804A
Boston, MA 02108
Office tel: 617.248.9440

--
James J. Bulger
Chairman
Thornton Group LLC
14 Beacon Street, Suite 804A
Boston, MA 02108
Office tel: 617.248.9440

<SLLF Memo re US China Governor's Forum as Precedent.docx>